Towpath maps for southern France required

Louise and Ian want to cycle to the south of France using, towpaths along the French inland waterway system.

Excellent reference books are available from Stanfords (stanfords .co.uk) in London (Cruising French Waterways, Hugh McKnight; Inland Waterways of France, David Edwards-May) as well as Institut Geographique Nationale Serie Vert 1:100,000 maps. Camp site info is usually clear on maps but we also carried Michelin Guides Vert and joined the French Camping Club (campingclub.asso.fr) so that we could use their member-only sites. Given that weight and bulk are issues, I can't endorse the excellent AA magnum opus but, again, very useful for copying relevant pages (in particular local festivals and markets).

Phil Hamerton

We walked from Bordeaux to the Mediterranean along the towpaths of the Canal du Midi and found the maps made for boat users very useful. They are published by Navicarte and give tourist information, details of locks, services, shops etc. We got our copy from Stanfords. Also handy was Cycling Along The Waterways Of France by Tony Roberts (MBI Publishing).

Sue Bateman

Anyone who's thinking of getting off the main roads in France should get a copy of the AA Maxi Atlas France. The scale is 1:180,000 and it's brilliant for alternative routes and places of interest.

Ben Bennett

If you have advice or questions, email: ask.a.fellow.traveller@guardian.co.uk.

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About this article

Towpath maps for southern France required

This article appeared on p18 of the Travel section of the Guardian
on Friday 19 May 2006.
It was published on
the Guardian website
at 13.01 EDT on Saturday 20 May 2006.
It was last modified at 13.01 EDT on Monday 2 October 2006.
It was first published at 19.00 EST on Tuesday 21 November 2006.